{Citrus} Zest for life

I do love California’s winter citrus season.

Doesn’t seem to matter which kind of citrus – though I think grapefruit and meyer lemon are tied for first for me. Especially when it’s grey out (which really doesn’t bother me in the slightest), I love baking with citrus: it smells like sunshine!

I’ve done a grapefruit tart on the blog before (several times, actually!) but never paired it with hazelnut, which I’m finding is an excellent combination.

As per usual, this tart does double duty for dessert paired with ice cream or for breakfast alongside the usual fare, and coffee, obviously.

I like versatile baked things! Life is more fun when you can eat them for breakfast, preferably in good company on a lazy weekend morning.

Let’s see, life things lately…

My car needed a new distributor (you may recall my interesting adventure with a freeway onramp from my last post), but I have it back now, so that’s all fine and dandy. The sky has been doing some crazy things lately, but I’ve been loving the rainy weather, and heaven knows we need it! Maybe maybe I can squeeze in at least one ski day before the end of the season… fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I shall eat tart in the company of my fave human and be content, because that is what weekends are for.

In a large bowl, stir together hazelnut meal, shredded coconut, sea salt, and baking soda. Add in vanilla, maple, and melted coconut oil, and stir until completely combined. The dough will look crumbly, but you’ll be able to press it together with your fingers.

Preheat the oven to 350, and press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9″ pie plate. Poke the bottom a few times with a fork, and bake for 10 minutes.

I use a double boiler for this curd, which literally is a game changer. Highly recommended! Heat water in the bottom of the double boiler until it’s at a high simmer. In the top of the double boiler, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, grapefruit zest and juice, sea salt, and maple syrup. Add in the coconut oil one tbsp at a time, whisking continuously, not adding the next tbsp until the first is completely melted. Whisk in vanilla. Cook, stirring constantly, until the curd thickens and will coat the back of a spoon (or your whisk leaves tracks) – usually around 5 to 8 minutes. It’s a noticeable change when it happens, so just watch the cooking magic! Remove from heat and strain through a mesh strainer into your glass/pyrex storage container. Keep in the fridge until ready to use – curd keeps for about a week.

I stabilized the curd for this tart with gelatin, since I was a little suspicious of its structural integrity. To do so, since I’d already made the curd ahead of time, I needed to bring it back to a warm enough temperature to dissolve the gelatin. The following is what I did – if you’re making it all at once, no need to do as I did, just stir the softened gelatin into the already warm curd once it thickens.

In a small bowl, sprinkle 1 packet of gelatin over 1/4 c cold meyer lemon or grapefruit juice. Stir until incorporated and let sit for a minute. Once softened, stir into the warm curd, stirring until the gelatin is dissolved completely (give it 1-2 minutes of stirring). Pour the curd into the baked crust shell, and let cool for a few minutes on the counter before transferring to the fridge to cool completely – preferably overnight but at least 4 hours.

**If you prefer not to use gelatin, you could also set the curd by pouring it into the baked tart shell, and baking the whole thing at 350 for 8-10 minutes, then letting cool completely and refrigerating for at least 4 hours before serving. I prefer the gelatin method with this curd since it will set completely – the baked version might have more wobble / lose some structural integrity when sliced, but it’s a pretty solid second option.

Top with sliced grapefruit, hazelnuts, shredded coconut and candied ginger if desired. I prefer to chill mine in the fridge for at least two hours before serving.

Keeps well in the fridge covered overnight, though it’s best eaten in 2-3 days.